


Run Away With Me

by thekatthatbarks



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Light Angst, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 12:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15949142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekatthatbarks/pseuds/thekatthatbarks
Summary: “Let’s run away.”Shikamaru snorted and didn’t glance her way. “Yeah right.”Sakura bit the inside of her cheek and looked over at the deer lounging in complete contentment.Sometimes, she wished she was a deer.She held back a laugh, thinking Shikamaru probably shared that sentiment.





	Run Away With Me

                Sakura found him in the Nara Forest, in a secluded little field with a couple deer lying near him. It wasn’t a rare sight for her. Ever since the war, he was always around here somewhere, alone with his thoughts and his deer. They had always been good friends, but it still didn’t explain the sudden draw she’d felt to him over the last couple of years. They had made a habit of searching each other out with a silent agreement. Seeing the stress lines between his eyebrows as he looked up at that sky, Sakura thought it was some sense of misery loves company.

 

                When she reached him, she kicked at his foot lightly and told him bluntly, “Let’s run away.”

 

                Shikamaru snorted and didn’t glance her way. “Yeah right.”

 

                Sakura bit the inside of her cheek and looked over at the deer lounging in complete contentment. _Sometimes, she wished she was a deer._ She held back a laugh, thinking Shikamaru probably shared that sentiment.

 

                When she didn’t reply, Shikamaru sat up and looked at her curiously. “Wait, are you serious?”

 

                Sakura sighed and shrugged at him. “What? Like you haven’t thought about it?”

 

                Shikamaru shook his head and started picking at a blade of grass. “Sakura…”

 

                Sakura dropped to the ground beside him and put a hand on his arm. “Come on. Why not?”

 

                Shikamaru looked at her with a chuckle, but Sakura didn’t think he found anything funny about this. “Because we can’t, Sakura! We have duties and responsibilities… we can’t just – we can’t just abandon everyone…”

 

                Sakura let go of him, feeling her chest tighten and hugged her knees to her chest. “It’s not abandonment… we’d come back eventually.”

 

                “Like all rebellious stupid children do?” Shikamaru nudged her arm and she glanced at him to see a bit of amusement in his smile.

 

                “Well, we never got to be that, did we?” She raised an eyebrow at him, feeling bitter.

 

                Shikamaru’s smile faltered and he shook his head. “No, we didn’t.”

 

                They were quiet and then Sakura told him softly, “I’ve felt so lost since the war, Shika. I look at Naruto or even Ino and am just reminded that I… I don’t have a purpose.”

 

                Shikamaru didn’t argue with her, didn’t tell her empty words, or offer any silly dreams. He just admitted back as quietly, “I know, Sakura.”

 

                Sakura didn’t look at him and just glared at a flower that was only a bud in the ground. “I don’t have any goals. I don’t know how – I can’t _believe_ I didn’t notice it before. Or well maybe it had been the war. Hell, I don’t know. But ever since then, it’s the same thing over and over. I feel like I’m just going through the motions. Go to the hospital, go have ramen with the old team, go train. I don’t know how to move on from here and life feels so dull. Kami, the only time I feel any semblance of happiness is when I’m –“ Sakura’s words caught in her mouth. She hadn’t come here to admit all of this, or maybe she had. All she had thought about on the way over here was to convince him to go with her.

 

                Shikamaru reached up and gently moved her hair over her shoulder, tucking it behind her ear. Sakura felt her heart skip as his skin brushed hers. He prompted her to continue, “When, Sakura?”

 

                She looked at him and admitted in a breath, “With you.”

 

                Shikamaru’s eyes widened a fraction, but then he smiled at her. His hand dropped from her and he looked out across the field. “I know what you mean. I don’t know how I’m supposed to fill my dad’s shoes – I don’t even know if I _want_ to. I know everyone else does, they’re all waiting for me to pick myself up. The clan elders are probably calculating how long they should let me mourn, before they throw the title at me, but –“ Shikamaru let out a frustrated sigh. “I’ve never had any idea what I wanted to do with my life. I said I’d be Naruto’s advisor when he’s Hokage and I still want to do that but that’s years from now. Outside of that, I have no idea. I’ve always know I’d be clan leader someday, I was _born_ into that position. But damn, I didn’t think –” He chuckled and looked her way. “Sakura, I’m only nineteen. I don’t want to do that.”

 

                Sakura gave him a smile in understanding. “Tsunade-shishou told me she’s getting ready to go back to her travels. She never wanted to be Hokage anyway. Kakashi’s already agreed – _reluctantly_ – to take the hat until Naruto’s ready. I already help her run the hospital and she keeps hinting that she wants me to take over for her there when she leaves. But I don’t… “

 

                Shikamaru nodded and she didn’t need to finish the thought. They laid back on the grass, their shoulders touching and just enjoyed the quiet for a while. _She_ didn’t know. _He_ didn’t know. They were just a couple of lost souls laying in a field, staring up at the clouds for answers.

 

                “Everyone seems to still be running on adrenaline from the war. Ino threw herself into T&I and she seems happy with it along with running the shop. Naruto is _studying_ under Tsunade and Hinata is trying to turn her clan around. They’re all moving on and I feel like we’re still trying to figure out which path to walk down.”

 

                “Right? What’s wrong with us?” Shikamaru chuckled.

 

                Sakura laughed with him. “I don’t know.”

 

                She turned her head towards him and smiled at him softly. He mirrored it, then sighed closing his eyes. “Sakura, I can’t – my mom…”

 

                Sakura swallowed thickly and tried to shrug it off, looking back to the sky. “It was selfish of me to ask you anyway.”

 

                “Why would you even want to run away with me?” Shikamaru asked her in what sounded like hesitance.                

 

                Sakura glanced at him. “Who else am I supposed to do that with?” She had meant for it to come out teasing, but with the heaviness of the conversation, it revealed more than she wanted to.

 

                Shikamaru didn’t say anything in response and they were quite the rest of the night. When they parted ways later at his house, Sakura felt like she saw something in his eyes – something like a promise. But maybe she was just seeing what she wanted.

 

*** 

 

                _Mom,_

_I’m sorry to leave like this and not have the courage to tell you this in person, but I thought this would be easier on both of us. I’m going to leave for a while. It won’t be long and I promise to come back. I’ll send you letters when I can. I know you’ll be worried no matter what I say, but Sakura’s going with me. You like her, she’s headstrong like you. I promise we’re not running off to get married, though I do think I’m in love with her. She makes me happy and I know at the end of the day that’s all you want for me._

_We just need to get away for a while. It’s not anything you did wrong, so don’t think that. Your son is just being a stupid rebellious teenager._

 

                Yoshino let out a deep breath as she finished reading the letter that had been left on the kitchen counter. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes and her chest was tight, but she had a small smile as she looked out the window. She didn’t need to go check his room. She knew if he hadn’t wanted to see her then he would’ve left hours before she usually woke up.

 

                She’d noticed Shikamaru hadn’t been the same since the war or maybe he had always looked like he was holding his breath and she hadn’t noticed when Shikaku was still here. But she _had_ noticed that he seemed to be more at ease whenever Sakura was around. If he ever came home late with a smile or offered to clean up for her, she knew it was the affect of hanging around her.

 

                Maybe being away _would_ be good for him. It was all she could hope for at least since he’d already decided so.

 

                She chuckled, reading the last line again. _Shikamaru, you have never been a stupid rebellious teenager._ She reconsidered her previous thought, maybe _that_ was what he needed.

 

*** 

 

                Sakura hadn’t been sleeping well and maybe that was why she heard him as soon as he slipped through her window. She sat up in her bed as Shikamaru’s feet hit the floor. It was dark in her room, but she could make him out anywhere. “Shika? What’re you doing here?” She glanced at the clock by her bed and felt anxiety start to churn in her stomach. She jumped out from under the covers and was in front of him before he could answer. She dragged him to the light of the window and gave him a once over. “Its _three in the morning_! Are you alright?”

 

                Shikamaru gave her a nervous smile at the same time she noticed the bag clutched in his hand. “Let’s run away together, Sakura.”

 

                Sakura’s eyes widened, and her heart raced. “What? Are you – _really_?”

 

                He reached down and grabbed her hand. He gave her a firm, “Yes.”

 

                He squeezed her hand as she searched his eyes, wondering if she was dreaming – _though unlikely, she never had nice dreams._ She nodded and felt him relax in her hand. “I just – let me write something for Naruto and Ino.”

 

                She turned towards her desk and pulled the light on. She sat down as Shikamaru leaned against her wall, watching her with a smile. His presence and the excitement bubbling in her chest was distracting and her handwriting was messy in her letters. He helped her pack; a pouch of her savings, a few sets of clothes, and her med pack. They were both leaving light.

 

                She went to follow him out her window when something occurred to her and she had flashbacks to warnings from school. “They’ll think we’ve gone rogue.”

 

                “Damn, I almost forgot.” Shikamaru dug into his pocket and pulled out two folded papers. He glanced at them, then handed her one. “Not if we turn these in before we go. I already filled yours out, you just need to sign it.”

 

                Sakura didn’t even read it and just signed where he said before following him out into the night.

 

                They left their _Leave of Absences_ along with her letters with the guards at the front gate – they didn’t think anything of the sealed scrolls and just told them to be safe on their trip – and didn’t look back.

 

                 Sakura felt like she let go of something as she walked through the gates. But it felt like a good thing, especially when Shikamaru slipped his hand into hers.

 


End file.
